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You're a tough hombre, Bill. (I'm a boreal type, and no good in heat.)
Posted by: Malcolm Pollack | Saturday, June 08, 2024 at 01:48 PM
Now Brother bill, don't get too fit, it may make you go right-wing:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/03/getting-fit-could-turn-you-into-a-rightwing-jerk.
To stay centrist, I only rode my heavy 3-speed bicycle in the coastal fog here.
Posted by: Joe Odegaard | Saturday, June 08, 2024 at 03:23 PM
Don't get too fit, Brother Bill:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/03/getting-fit-could-turn-you-into-a-rightwing-jerk
Strange times, these.
Posted by: Joe Odegaard | Saturday, June 08, 2024 at 03:25 PM
Malcolm,
I'm adaptable. I too lived in the effete and epicene East (Boston) in the '70s, and the '80s found me in the cold Midwest (Ohio). But surely the West is the best, as Jim Morrison taught us so many years ago?
Posted by: BV | Sunday, June 09, 2024 at 10:03 AM
Thanks for the link, Joe, which will now visit.
We should each try to become as phyically fit as possible given age, ability, sex, circumstances, and the desiderata of a balanced lifeplan.
Posted by: BV | Sunday, June 09, 2024 at 10:08 AM
Joe,
The Guardian is garbage. I read a few sentences of that asinine article and then surfed away. No wonder the mother country is going down the tubes.
Posted by: BV | Sunday, June 09, 2024 at 10:12 AM
That's a remarkable link, Joe. What a lot to unpack!
Yes, striving for, and attaining, what is higher inevitably means that you will now see some things from above -- but all this writer can take from that is that it involves "looking down", which makes you a "right-wing jerk".
Everything must be equal! If you notice that some things are higher, and better, and worth striving for, then you[re turning to the "dark side".
Wow. (And they say this isn't a religion!)
Posted by: Malcolm Pollack | Sunday, June 09, 2024 at 10:22 AM
Bill,
I dunno - I like it fine here on my little hilltop in the piney sandspit we call the Outer Cape. Fresh sea air, pure well-water, spring-fed ponds to swim in, trails to hike, the Milky Way at night, no crime or grime, a great musical community, an extraordinary quality of light that has attracted generations of painters and photographers, and winters of deep peace and tranquility.
But even more than that, I've learned that "wherever you go... there you are."
Posted by: Malcolm Pollack | Sunday, June 09, 2024 at 10:31 AM
Be careful, Malcolm; you are tempting me to visit you!
Emerson spoke of the indifferent of places. "Travelling is a fool's paradise. Our first journeys discover to us the indifference of places." (Selected Essays, ed. Ziff, p. 198) I have a fabulously good Substack entry on this very topic. But enough self-promotion for one day.
Jack Kerouac was once asked why he lived in Orlando, Florida. He replied, "You have to live somewhere."
Posted by: BV | Sunday, June 09, 2024 at 11:29 AM
Bill, you're welcome any time. (Except for July, when we have a full house of kids and grandkids.)
Oh, and I forgot to mention: our famous oysters.
Posted by: Malcolm Pollack | Sunday, June 09, 2024 at 11:38 AM
The OLD Boy Scout oath (An OATH, mind you, and that means something terribly serious, if you are at all attuned to human history), says:
" On my honor I promise to to do my duty to God and my country, and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight."
See, it says STRONG. not just healthy, or fit, though it would include those by implication; it says STRONG. I have never forgotten that, and I try to stay strong.
How far we've fallen ! I'm only 74. I must have repeated that oath a thousand times when I was a kid.
And now, we are far into "Weak men create hard times." But note, there must always be a remnant of strong men in the hard times to inspire others and drag us all out of the morass. Let's all try to be part of that remnant.
Now I am going to go ride my heavy 3-speed Pashley Gov'nor bicycle against the wind. I'll do an extra lap.
Posted by: Joe Odegaard | Sunday, June 09, 2024 at 01:18 PM
Joe, I remember that oath well; I spoke it many times myself. (Imagine: a nationwide organization dedicated to fostering masculine virtues in adolescent boys! Easy to see why that had to go.)
Just finished up a half-mile swim in some very cold water. (I'll be doing a daily mile once the ponds warm up a little more.)
Posted by: Malcolm Pollack | Sunday, June 09, 2024 at 04:50 PM
Malcolm,
I wasn't angling for an invite, but I do appreciate it!
Posted by: BV | Monday, June 10, 2024 at 07:02 PM